...
I suspect there may be a new Supreme Court case about recess
appointments if Trump doesn't get what he wants. It's anybody's guess
what his Court will do then.
....
As you may know, Trump has expressed a desire for the Senate to give up
its Constitutional power and duty to advise and consent on appointments
by recessing, so that he can make his appointments without the Senate second-guessing him.
I haven't seen this in the news media, but for Trump to get the power to
make recess appointments is a bit more complicated than just getting the Republicans in the Senate to agree to adjourn.
The basic authority for recess appointments is in Article I section 2:
"The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall
expire at the End of their next Session." ("A Congress lasts for two
years, with each year constituting a separate session."[3] Since Trump
would not be in a position to make appointments till January 20, 2025,
the "next session" would be the 2026 legislative session.)
However, the Senate cannot unilaterally go into recess, according to
Article I section 5: "Neither House, during the Session of Congress,
shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three
days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting." This means that if the senate wants to recess for more than 3
days, it must have the affirmative consent of the House. Since both
houses have only a slender majority of Republicans, not all of whom are
MAGA, it's not a foregone conclusion that the House would in fact
approve, even if the Senate goes along with Trump's plan.
The New York Times reports,[1] "The Supreme Court has said that Senate recesses of at least 10 days are sufficient to allow a president to
sidestep confirmation for appointees." But each house must approve the other's adjournment for "more than three days".
On the other hand, Article II section 3 says "he [the President] may,
on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and
in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper.
..." But on the other other hand, if the Senate votes to adjourn itself
and the House doesn't vote to adjourn _itself_, that is not a mere "disagreement with respect to the time of adjournment."
I suspect there may be a new Supreme Court case about recess
appointments if Trump doesn't get what he wants. It's anybody's guess
what his Court will do then.
[1] <https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/12/us/politics/trump- republicans-senate.html> [2]
[2] Here is a CNN writeup on the 2014 decision that recess apointments
can only be made in a recess lasting 10 days or more: <https://www.cnn.com/2014/06/26/justice/supreme-court-recess- appointments/index.html>
[3] <https://clerk.house.gov/Help/ViewLegislativeFAQs>
As you may know, Trump has expressed a desire for the Senate to give
up its Constitutional power and duty to advise and consent on
appointments by recessing, so that he can make his appointments
without the Senate second-guessing him.
I haven't seen this in the news media, but for Trump to get the power
to make recess appointments is a bit more complicated than just
getting the Republicans in the Senate to agree to adjourn.
The basic authority for recess appointments is in Article I section
2: "The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may
happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which
shall expire at the End of their next Session." ("A Congress lasts
for two years, with each year constituting a separate session."[3]
Since Trump would not be in a position to make appointments till
January 20, 2025, the "next session" would be the 2026 legislative
session.)
However, the Senate cannot unilaterally go into recess, according to
Article I section 5: "Neither House, during the Session of Congress,
shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three
days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall
be sitting." This means that if the senate wants to recess for more
than 3 days, it must have the affirmative consent of the House. Since
both houses have only a slender majority of Republicans, not all of
whom are MAGA, it's not a foregone conclusion that the House would in
fact approve, even if the Senate goes along with Trump's plan.
The New York Times reports,[1] "The Supreme Court has said that
Senate recesses of at least 10 days are sufficient to allow a
president to sidestep confirmation for appointees." But each house
must approve the other's adjournment for "more than three days".
On the other hand, Article II section 3 says "he [the President] may,
on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them,
and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think
proper. ..." But on the other other hand, if the Senate votes to
adjourn itself and the House doesn't vote to adjourn _itself_, that
is not a mere "disagreement with respect to the time of adjournment."
I suspect there may be a new Supreme Court case about recess
appointments if Trump doesn't get what he wants. It's anybody's guess
what his Court will do then.
[1] <https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/12/us/politics/trump- republicans-senate.html> [2]
[2] Here is a CNN writeup on the 2014 decision that recess
apointments can only be made in a recess lasting 10 days or more: <https://www.cnn.com/2014/06/26/justice/supreme-court-recess- appointments/index.html>
[3] <https://clerk.house.gov/Help/ViewLegislativeFAQs>
Since both houses must approve a recess of more than ten days then a few Republican members could block the the approval.
On Fri, 15 Nov 2024 21:55:27 -0800 (PST), Roy wrote:
Since both houses must approve a recess of more than ten days then a few
Republican members could block the the approval.
More than three days, not more than ten.
I quoted the Constitution and cited the article and section in the
post you were following up on, namely <[email protected]>.
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